Every F1 team rated in 2023 as Red Bull fly, Mercedes deceive and three flop
Given how dominant Max Verstappen and his Red Bull team were in 2023, you'd be forgiven for thinking this was one of the least competitive Formula 1 seasons ever.
While that would be correct in the context of the title race, it couldn't be further from the truth across the rest of the grid. Ignoring Verstappen's freakishly consistent brilliance, the balance of power behind him was incredibly fragile throughout the season.
Sergio Perez didn't need to exist for Red Bull to secure top spot, but his contributions meant they finished 451 points clear of their nearest competitor. The gap between second and fifth was just a little over 100.
Alpine looked destined from the get-go to finish miles below the front-runners and well clear of the back-markers, and that's exactly what happened for F1's most mediocre outfit. And the fact things were so competitive for the points positions meant the bottom four teams were separated by just 16 in the end.
Having watched closely as the season unfolded, Mirror Sport has reached its verdict on how each of the 10 teams got on - starting from the top...
Sebastian Vettel warns of looming F1 ban and is "very worried about the future"
Red Bull - 9.9/10
Given the ridiculous, record-breaking season Red Bull have had, we admit it seems absurd not to give them a perfect score. But given they didn't quite manage to win every single race they still technically have a tiny amount of room to improve. Yes, we're being incredibly harsh.
From pre-season testing onwards it was terrifyingly clear that Verstappen and his team were going to be in a league of their own. They fully switched development to their 2024 car months before anyone else and still their competitive streak pushed them to continue dominating - not one person in that team was on the beach at any point, even after the titles were confirmed.
Red Bull secured first and second in the drivers' championship for the first time and broke another swathe of F1 records as they did so. Still, an anomalous off-weekend in Singapore and Perez's struggles for consistency mean they'll have to try again next year to get the 10/10 from us.
Mercedes - 8/10
Mercedes still finished second despite a gloomy mood around their fortunes (Getty Images)Much of the talk around Mercedes has been doom and gloom, yet they finished second in the championship behind only the team that greatest single season in F1 history. Weird. Huge credit must go to everyone involved for managing that in a season that was so volatile when it came to the race to be best of the rest behind Red Bull.
Mercedes clearly had the second best car on the grid at some races, but the balance of power was so changeable that, from one week to the next, their place in the pecking order would change. That wasn't helped by their struggles to set up their "diva" of a W14 car which Lewis Hamilton, George Russell and Toto Wolff all cannot wait to see the back of.
The size of the performance gap made things seem worse than they were at times - this is a team not used to being happy with second place. And similar inconsistencies from their main rivals helped them to secure the runners-up spot. But this was the best result they were ever going to manage this year and so, in the end, the season turned out to be a success. Tying Hamilton and Russell down to new deals was also an important move.
Ferrari - 7.5/10
Ferrari made improvements but always demand more (HOCH ZWEI/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)Race pace was an issue for Ferrari throughout the season which severely limited their prospects and meant they were nowhere near a title challenge. Frederic Vasseur might have expected as much in his first year in arguably the most demanding role in F1, but those in the boardroom back in Italy are, and will forever remain, impatient for a return to the glory days.
There were notable improvements - strategy was nowhere near as much of an issue as it was in 2022 when a series of costly blunders derailed their title challenge. And reliability was better too, particularly in terms of their engines, though this was masked somewhat by the fact that every team on the grid did remarkably well on that front.
In Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, they have a fine driver line-up - but both are out of contract this time next year. They are race-winners with title ambitions and, even though both have a love for the Ferrari brand which may make them more patient than they otherwise would be, neither of them will stick around forever if they are not convinced they will be able to achieve those goals. Ferrari's next car simply must be kinder to the tyres than their most recent efforts have been.
McLaren - 8/10
McLaren's improvement as the season progressed was staggering (Getty Images)Zak Brown warned us before the season began that his team had missed development targets and so weren't expecting much from the opening rounds of the campaign. Even so, the fact the MCL60 was arguably the slowest on the grid was incredibly worrying - especially with Red Bull sniffing around Lando Norris who is desperate for race wins and a title challenge.
Mick Schumacher free to race for McLaren in 2023 after Mercedes deal reached
Their improvement over the course of the year was remarkable. One major update transformed McLaren from also-rans to podium contenders at most venues and catapulted them up the standings. Every single person involved in car development in Woking earned their corn with their efforts during the season and Norris, alongside stellar rookie Oscar Piastri, delivered results more befitting their lofty ambitions.
It's easy to wonder what might have been had McLaren not started from such a low base. On many occasions in the second half of the season they felt like the closest challengers to Red Bull, even if they still couldn't quite get the better of Verstappen. If their current trajectory continues, Norris may be able to live out his F1 ambitions with the team he loves after all.
Aston Martin - 7.5/10
The antithesis of McLaren in many ways, Aston Martin made extraordinary progress in terms of their year-on-year competitiveness. But after starting the season so remarkably well, they way in which they lost momentum and ended up slipping down to fifth was such an anti-climax.
Fernando Alonso, 42 and still going strong, was excellent throughout the campaign. Eight podiums captured the imagination and represented one of the feel-good stories of the year. He might even have ended his 10-year victory drought in Monaco had the team made a bolder tyre strategy call, but Verstappen spoiled the Spaniard's party with his insatiable appetite for success.
Aston Martin lost the development war and faded as the season went on, before finding form again when they got rid of their upgrades. They will need to understand why that happened to make more progress next year. They must also see a less lop-sided driver output - Lance Stroll showed flashes of his ability and ended the season strongly, but too often they were reliant on Alonso to score points. The Canadian has a point to prove in 2024.
Alpine - 5/10
Alpine have two good drivers but are hampered by internal politics (HOCH ZWEI/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)Renault remain their own worst enemies. Things were looking up for the Enstone squad 12 months ago after beating midfield rivals McLaren to fourth in the standings. A year later, Alpine are two places and 53 points worse off, with an engine that's less powerful than the ones powering every other car on the grid and infighting behind the scenes that will only further delay their progress.
Team principal Otmar Szafnauer was unceremoniously dumped mid-season after telling the Renault board that their timeline for success was unachievable. Former Ferrari chief Mattia Binotto was heavily linked with taking over for a while, but Bruno Famin remained in interim charge until the end of the season while talk over a permanent leader has gone eerily quiet.
Alpine have two strong French drivers in Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly who defied all the pre-season predictions to not have any major fallings-out. Instead, the politics took place at boardroom level. If this team has any hope of graduating like McLaren to fight closer to the front, everyone is going to have to start pulling in the same direction. If not, there is only more mid-table mediocrity in their future.
Williams - 7/10
Logan Sargeant needs to help Alex Albon out more next year (HOCH ZWEI/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)Yes, they finished seventh with just 28 points but this grade is given form performance relative to last year - and the 2022 season was one of the worst in this historic team's history. The only way was up, but the progress made at Williams during the first year of new team principal James Vowles' tenure has surpassed expectations - they couldn't have hoped for much better.
Vowles told in early September that he doesn't care where his team finishes over the next couple of years. But he will still be very pleased with a rise of three places in the championship and the improvement will keep shareholders happy. It buys Vowles more time to carry out the long-term plan he has put in motion at this sleeping giant of a team.
The fact they had only one driver scoring points makes achieving seventh place even more impressive - Alex Albon turned a lot of heads this year and, with an active driver market expected in 2024, Vowles may face a fight to keep hold of him. Further steps in the right direction will be needed next term if he is to have any hope of keeping the British-Thai racer on board.
AlphaTauri - 6/10
An end-of-season bump sparked hope for AlphaTauri's 2024 fortunes (Getty Images)If the season had ended just a few weeks earlier, this grade would have been much, much lower. AlphaTauri spent most of the year rock bottom and in desperate need of the revamp that is now under way behind the scenes, but a dramatic improvement in the latter part of the season stirred the team into life.
Yuki Tsunoda had his most convincing year in the sport yet, even if he did lose his way somewhat in the middle of the campaign. And Daniel Ricciardo added the F1 experience needed on track which Nyck de Vries did not provide - axing the Dutchman after just 10 pointless races seemed harsh at the time but, in hindsight, acting swiftly may have been the best course.
Franz Tost has served the team well since 2006 but it's understandable why Red Bull wanted a change of leadership. New team principal Laurent Mekies is inheriting a huge task and his team will have to make enough progress to convince the company's leadership that the project of a sister F1 team to its main outfit is still a project worth funding in the long-term.
Alfa Romeo - 4.5/10
Alfa Romeo's final season in F1 was a forgettable one (HOCH ZWEI/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)F1 waved goodbye to an iconic brand this year but Alfa Romeo rather went out with a whimper. Valtteri Bottas and Zhou Guanyu sneaked the odd point here and there but, for the most part, they were victims of the fact competition for top-10 finishes was intense all season long.
In truth, they were lucky that Haas were even more rubbish, otherwise they could easily have finished at the very bottom. The Sauber team at least managed to avoid that fate, but there are fears that they will be treading water for the next two seasons as well now that Alfa Romeo has bowed out, before it transforms into the Audi works team for 2026.
Chatter that Audi are getting cold feet about their F1 entry remains just noise, the German carmaker insists. But until they officially enter in 2026, the Hinwil squad looks to be a team without identity, without direction and without too much hope of making any waves for a while to come.
Haas - 4/10
Where do Guenther Steiner and Haas go from here? (Getty Images)Guenther Steiner may be a famous face to millions around the globe these days, but marketing seems to be the only area in which his team is excelling at the moment. Their car was capable of decent qualifying results this year but was sorely lacking in race pace.
So the same story played out over and over again. Nico Hulkenberg or Kevin Magnussen - sometimes both - would put themselves in decent positions to race for points, only to be left powerless to fight for them on a Sunday. That is the major area of concern that needs to be addressed for the 2024 car after their German driver said it was "disappointing and upsetting".
I was recently told by a former Haas staff member that the team could benefit from fresh leadership. Steiner still has a lot of support within the team and it's impossible to imagine what Haas would be like without him at the helm, but it does seem that something needs to change.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
